4 Big Factors When Interviewing for Cultural Fit

Interviewing for Cultural Fit
You don’t want everyone in your organization to think, act, or work the same way — diversity of thought drives innovation and resilience. But because every strategy must flow through your people and culture to be executed successfully, you do want a workforce that meshes well, collaborates effectively, and pulls in the same strategic direction with shared purpose and commitment.

Our organizational culture assessment data consistently show that cultural misfits aren’t just challenging to manage — they’re costly. They drain productivity, erode morale, and create friction that slows execution. That’s why assessing for cultural fit — or more accurately, cultural alignment — should be a conscious part of every hiring decision.

Every interviewer should understand and evaluate the cultural factors that define how your organization truly operates — not to screen out differences, but to ensure that new hires can thrive within your values, contribute to your strategy, and strengthen your culture, not work against it.

Behavioral Interviewing Increases Your Chances for Success
Building an aligned and high performing company takes planning from the beginning. And one of the best ways to select talented employees who will fit the high performance culture you want to build is to:

• Follow behavior-based interviewing best practices.
• Use people manager assessment centers.
• Deploy leadership simulation assessments for high stakes roles.

You Need to Uncover Motivation — Because It Matters
New hire success does not just depend on a worker’s experience and ability but also their motivation and learning aptitude. You need to learn how interested and capable the candidate is in doing the work that the job requires and how likely they are to work well with others within your unique organizational culture.

Four Factors When Interviewing for Cultural Fit
While most people think about just cultural hiring for a match in terms of corporate values and strategic vision, we find that interviewers do not do enough to assess a candidate’s ability to mesh with the way people think, work, and behave.  Here are four underestimated factors to uncover when interviewing for cultural fit that will help to better predict hiring success:

1. Speed
   Will the candidate do well at the pace your company operates? We find pace varies greatly from company to company and industry to industry.
2. Style
   Are they more used to an entrepreneurial environment or a more established, structured one? It is very different to work at IBM than it is to work at Zappos.
3. Autonomy and Collaboration
   Do they work better with frequent supervision or with more autonomy? Do they collaborate and work well with teams playing various roles or are they more of a lone wolf?
4. Adaptability
   How flexible are they in different situations and circumstances? Will they be able to adapt to changing conditions and managerial styles?

The Bottom Line
Poor cultural fits inevitably create friction — no matter how strong their technical skills or productivity may be. If a candidate doesn’t align with your company’s values and ways of working, resist the temptation to compromise. Keep looking for someone who both performs well and strengthens your culture — the long-term health of your team depends on it.

To learn more about key factors when interviewing for cultural fit, download the 3 Levels that Are Necessary to Get Right for a High Performing Culture